TOPIC: Upcoming implant surgery

I hope this is an acceptable topic for this board, and even though it doesn\'t exactly concern size enhancement, maybe some members will still take an interest.

I believe I have reached the end of the road and am now approaching surgery for implantation of a three piece penile prosthesis, for the treatment of my lifelong erectile dysfunction. I\'m 29 years old and have tried all the pills and the PRP procedure. My penis just does not hold blood in it very well. The one thing that I have always liked about my penis, nevertheless, is its size. I\'m 7 inches long npel (not that I get fully Erect easily or often) and right around 6 inches mseg, and thicker lower down the shaft and at the base.

I am scared of infection and losing size. I am going with Dr. Andrew Kramer in Baltimore, Maryland. He is world class, and assures me that I won\'t lose any size. Nevertheless, I\'ve seen horror stories. My surgery date is scheduled for January 6th, 2016.

What makes you decide to go for the implant surgery now at this age?

I have been thinking I may also need this surgery in the future. I am 29 years old and have erectile dysfunction but mine is also accompanied by low testosterone and peyronies disease. My doctor has me on Cialis now.

Has Cialis stopped working for you?

I am going for the implant because I am emotionally exhausted after 10+ years, my entire young adult life, of battling ED. My penis has just never worked properly and it has nothing to do with my diet, lifestyle, or mental state. To be sure, I have psychological problems because of the dysfunction, but it was not performance anxiety or some sex hang up that created the dysfunction. There is a small subset of men that are likely born with defective vena-occlusive systems. I need to never worry about an Erection again, and when I achieve that, I really think it will change my life dramatically.

All the pills work the same for me. They generate unpleasant side effects; I flush terribly and get headaches. The pills help blood flow in faster, but they don\'t solve the outflow problems. Never have and never will.

This is a very very major surgery as you well know, so I will have to assume that you and your doctors have gone through all and any other options to reach this conclusion. So I hope you the best of outcomes.

If you feel ok to do, can you please post some photos before and after? and also include any details about the implant and how it works for you. This may help some readers in the future....

Again, good luck!

It is a major surgery in the sense that it is irreversible. And complications, should they occur, are serious. But as far as surgeries go, it is relatively fast, efficient, and effective. It is really the best treatment option for someone that does not get natural erections and doesn\'t respond well to the pills.

I will post before and after pictures because I think more people should be informed on possible changes to size and appearance that could occur through implantation. I have been reassured that I will be largely the same, but it will still be worth documenting so that more people can see for themselves what can happen. The whole point of me posting this here is to inform others of this option and what it entails. Even though it isn\'t enlargement based, I figure this is still the kind of place where interested or curious parties might be reading.

Wrong post!

How long did the dr say the implant was going to last before needing to be replaced? My understanding is that about every 10 years, the surgery would have to be re-done. Was that the same view the dr had as well for the procedure?

The devices have a 5% breakage rate after 5 years. They could last 15-20 but who really knows.

You should be a lot less worried than a guy going in for an implant who is 5\" x 4\" Even if you lost 1\" in length and Girth (which is unlikely) you would still be average to above average. 6\" Girth is enormous for a natural penis.

You will have swelling at first, which distorts everything...then some scar tissue contraction that makes it look smaller - then over 2 years (at a maximum) it will be back to what you started with, maybe less than 1/4\". That is how it was explained to me. Some of this depends on how much internal penile tissue you have and how much pubic fat you have, but your surgeon will know how to deal with this if he is one of the best ones.

Which one are you going with? The coloplast is the one that most docs favor. the AMS LGX expands in length and Girth but it\'s not known to be as reliable.

I have tried injections and they don\'t work well for me. The Erection feels strange and numbed, at least in my case. Kind of like a zombiefied, undead Erection. Plus injections are a huge pain, and you can\'t really do them everyday, and there\'s a risk of peyronies and fibrosis. It\'s hugely impractical, especially for my lifestyle. And I\'ve never been able to get cockrings to work either. I have worked with them extensively, and they are also very uncomfortable and ineffective. I have also long held out hope for some kind of gene therapy or stem cell miracle, but I don\'t think that\'s happening in a reasonable amount of time. I need axial rigidity and column strength, and absolute dependability. Only the implant can give me that. I am hoping that I don\'t lose length, and I shouldn\'t lose much if anything. I should get close to my stretched Flaccid length, which is actually longer than my typical erections since they aren\'t very strong. My surgeon is, I believe, the best in the world. I wouldn\'t trust just anyone to do this well.

Restoration wrote: You should be a lot less worried than a guy going in for an implant who is 5\" x 4\" Even if you lost 1\" in length and Girth (which is unlikely) you would still be average to above average. 6\" Girth is enormous for a natural penis.

You will have swelling at first, which distorts everything...then some scar tissue contraction that makes it look smaller - then over 2 years (at a maximum) it will be back to what you started with, maybe less than 1/4\". That is how it was explained to me. Some of this depends on how much internal penile tissue you have and how much pubic fat you have, but your surgeon will know how to deal with this if he is one of the best ones.

Which one are you going with? The coloplast is the one that most docs favor. the AMS LGX expands in length and Girth but it\'s not known to be as reliable.

I thought you\'d be informed on implants because of your experience with Peyronies. Yeah what you\'ve described is how it\'s likely to go. Initially, there will be a reduction in size because of swelling and scar tissue, but it should return with regular cycling. The Flaccid stretch test is a pretty reliable indicator,and like I said with that I get better length than my typical Erection. So I feel good about my prospects.

I will be getting the AMS CX, which only expands in Girth. It is very similar to the Coloplast Titan. In the implant world, the Titan has the reputation for being more rigid and providing better Girth, but both of those implants can theoretically expand beyond any human penis dimension. The Girth outcome using either device just comes down to individual anatomy, and the CX axial rigidity is just as good as the Titan. People think that AMS only offers the LGX, and that one is less reliable and is made of a different material. The 20% length expansion of that model is more problematic and doesn\'t work as well, though when it does, it makes the penis more dynamic and natural, with a greater difference between Flaccid and Erect states.

Dr. Kramer used to just do Titans, but a couple of years ago he switched to doing mostly CX. He feels that the CX has a more natural feel than the Titan, and that the AMS pump is easier to operate. Plus the infection rates, already almost nonexistent, are even lower than the Titan\'s. So I\'m trusting his judgment and going with the CX. He has tons of videos on youtube of him narrating and performing these surgeries, and he makes it look effortless and efficient. There\'s a recent vid of him implanting a guy with a really big Girth with a CX, and he does a test inflation, and it looks really thick, so I think I will be okay in that department.

Yeah, I didn\'t know AMS made others. That\'s good he explained the options. Those pumps can be hard to manipulate, so that\'s a plus. I tried one out in Dr. Eid\'s office and could barely squeeze the thing. It was the coloplast titan. My uro talked me out of the implant given that I still could have erections (with viagra) and I was too young. In my case, it was the right decision, but I think you should do what is right for you. Surgery is a scary thing, and I waited nearly four years trying to fix peyronies with verapamil injections, pentoxifyline, stretching with an ADS, etc... and none of it worked. I wish I could get those 3 years back. Even though surgery scared the hell out of me, the sooner I did it - the sooner it healed. It looked very bizarre in the first few weeks, but then it was amazingly better (but painful for a while, which I was warned about). So, there will be an adjustment after you get it - but I think a year from now, you\'ll be happy & this Sexual Dysfunction will be behind you.

I just have one questoin - you said caverject wasn\'t practical for your lifestyle. Do you think pumping up your Dick before sex is going to be ok in that case? I had a conversation with a gay guy about this, and he said it created an awkward situation sometimes. This also pushed me away from the implant option. I don\'t know if women will be more understanding or not - or if you can go to the bathroom and do it... anyway, I\'m sure you thought of this issue. I just hope that doesn\'t create another hurdle down the line. When you\'re in a situation like this (or like with bad PD or a penile open wound...) you just want it to be over so badly... so I hope it will go well. There are boards out there I used to read where guys discussed this more... unrelated to peyronies... I cant\' remember what they were though.

Franktalk is probably the most active board for ED and implants. I read and post over there, and it\'s where I first obtained information on my surgeon.

As far as how I\'ll integrate the implant into my sex life, I believe that living this long with ED has already primed me for downplaying or concealing oddities and defects. I never shied away from trying to have sex, even when it would prove futile, and in the process I came up with a lot of different ways of either masking it or making it seem like it wasn\'t a big deal. I\'m sure I\'ll be able to use that experience to guide me through an unprecedented phase of functioning.

I think that either women will be more understanding, or they simply won\'t know. I can imagine a few ways of mostly keeping it from them, like going to the bathroom in advance or extensive, skilled foreplay, that will probably be effective. But at the same time I don\'t want to feel shame or the need to deny it. I\'ve lived long enough apologizing and feeling embarrassed. It\'s not something I necessarily want to shout from the proverbial rooftops but I don\'t think I should take elaborate steps to hide it either. It will give me something I\'ve never had and also bring pleasure to others, and it doesn\'t need to be a secret or another source of shame.

So I have had all of my pre op appointments and I\'m about a week and a half away from this life changing procedure. I\'ve been watching videos that my surgeon posts on youtube of the procedure. There are probably fifty up now, maybe more. One of the latest vids shows him performing a lig cut during right after he places an implant. Said the patient wanted this and that it would provide more apparent length. Just thought that was interesting. Dr. Kramer is really accommodating and congenial, and I don\'t think the lig cut is a regular part of his practice, but I guess he\'ll do it if you ask. I felt tempted for a second and then thought better of it. I don\'t think it would really do much, and actually don\'t understand the benefit especially when you have an implant. If you are implanted, your Flaccid size will already be improved because you just don\'t shrink down as much in the Flaccid state with the device in there.

i wonder if you can use extender after having the implant, if you could still gain length somehow. and maybe get the implant replaced with a bigger one after a while. im sure i read something like that about 2 guys that gained 4cm and got a bigger implant, i\'ll try to find it